Internal documents unsealed in recent court proceedings confirm that the artificial intelligence company Anthropic executed a project titled Project Panama. This initiative involved the mass acquisition of physical books for the express purpose of destructive scanning. Destructive scanning is a process that requires cutting the spine of a volume so individual pages can feed into high-speed scanners for digital conversion.
Evidence from the court case shows that Anthropic sought out what it described as less common books in large quantities. An internal memo from April 2024 listed the goal of the project as scanning all the books in the world. The documents indicate a desire to maintain secrecy around this work because the company expected public disapproval if the practice of destroying physical books became known.
While the documents confirm the actions taken by Anthropic, it remains unclear if other artificial intelligence companies have adopted similar methods. Claims circulating on social media often suggest widespread industry participation in the destruction of rare or obscure books. However, verifiable data currently only links these specific practices to Anthropic. The company has not provided public comments regarding the current status of Project Panama.
Industry experts note that companies seek out physical books to build datasets for training models. This strategy aims to avoid the quality issues that occur when artificial intelligence trains on its own generated content. By sourcing physical material, companies ensure high-quality text input, though the destruction of these items creates significant controversy regarding copyright and the preservation of physical media.